Currently browsing posts about: McDonald’s

“At McDonald’s we’re on a journey: What’s important to you is important to us.”

The ad says McDonald’s is taking these actions [with my comments]:

Removed artificial preservatives from Chicken McNuggets and other items [Fine, but no big deal in my book.]

Removed high fructose corn syrup from hamburger buns [And replaced it with what? Sugar? This matters? I’m guessing the price of HFCS must be close enough to the price of sugar to make this possible.]**

Committed to only source chickens that have not been treated with antibiotics [OK. Now we’re talking important. For this alone, McDonald’s deserves high praise. My only question: by when?]***

The ad also summarizes the company’s additional actions, done and promised:

***Andy Smith points out that “In 2015, McDonald’s announced that it would stop buying chicken raised with non-therapeutic, medically-important antibiotics by 2017– but a few weeks ago announced that it had already done so.” He too provides a reference: See QSR. “McDonald’s Eliminates Antibiotics From Its Chicken,” QSR Magazine, August 2, 2016. Retrieved at https://www.qsrmagazine.com/news/eliminates-antibiotics-its-chicken.

The study, which looked at the nutritional quality of children’s lunches, comes to three conclusions:

The nutrition quality of lunch in fast food restaurants is similar to a typical Brazilian meal [Really? Who paid for this?].

The restaurant meals could fit into a balanced diet from time to time [Of course. Anything can].

Every meal observed here could be improved with regard to sodium and fiber to promote children’s health in adulthood [Ditto].

Did you guess?

The authors acknowledge Equilibrium Consultancy which led this study. Funding by McDonald’s Corporation for the project was primarily to Equilibrium.

This is yet another industry-funded study with results favorable to the sponsor’s interests. These especially require scrutiny of hypotheses, methods, and interpretation and repetition by independently funded investigators.

When the Milan Food Expo opened on May 1, there were plenty of protests, fires, store break-ins, and overturned cars.

The protesters have been angered by Expo’s reliance on volunteer workers, the involvement of corporations like McDonald’s and Coca-Cola and a perception that much of the public money ploughed into the project has been lost to corruption.

The gist: Are the recent actions taken by food companies an indication that consumers are having an effect at the expense of science—and at the expense of focusing on more important food issues such as too much sugar, obesity, and diabetes?

He cited these recent events:

Tyson’s says it will phase out human antibiotics in broiler production.

McDonald’s says it will source chicken that has not been treated with antibiotics.

PepsiCo says it is taking aspartame out of its diet sodas (it’s the #1 reason given for not drinking diet cola).

On the American Greetings’ Strawberry Shortcake channel, for instance, a 37-second video features the red-haired doll describing the company’s “Food Fair” app, where characters pick ingredients for recipes. At the end, a banner appears showing the app can be downloaded on iTunes. McDonald’s has a 7-minute video dispelling myths about the contents of Chicken McNuggets. On another video, a deep-voiced announcer warns, “All vegetarians, foodies and gastronauts, kindly avert your eyes,” with a slow-cam close up of a juicy Big Mac. “You can’t get juiciness like this from soy or quinoa.”

Here’s the Coalition list: the Center for Digital Democracy, Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood, American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Center for Science in the Public Interest, Children Now, Consumer Federation of America, Consumer Watchdog, Corporate Accountability International, and Public Citizen.

McDonald’s announcement yesterday that it is raising the pay of workers at the outlets it owns, although not franchises, still comes as good news to everyone who cares about the plight of low-wage workers. Everyone should.

But before breaking out the champagne, read these comments from Brandon Weber:

Five Things to Know About McDonald’s Wage Announcement.

Half a million Walmart workers just won raises to $10—456% more employees than are covered by McDonald’s announcement.

The increase applies only to workers at corporate stores, which means only about 10% of the company’s U.S. workers will see a change in their income. About 1.6 million workers worldwide will get a raise of $0.

Nearly everyone who works at McDonald’s will still get paid less than $10 an hour – not enough to pay the bills. And many will still be making far less. In many places, McDonald’s workers earn the federal minimum of $7.25, which means even those who will see an increase as a result of Wednesday’s publicity stunt will still be stuck trying to support families on $8.25 an hour.

The announcement came a day after McDonald’s and other fast-food workers announced plans for the biggest-ever strike to hit the fast-food industry—a 200-city walkout on April 15.

McDonald’s low wages cost taxpayers more than $1 billion a year. This won’t put a dent in that amount.

Fight for 15 (a minimum wage of $15/hour) is protesting McDonald’s weak announcement today in cities throughout the country. McDonald’s has taken a tiny step. It and other employers of low-wage workers need to do more.